UN 101

The foxes are guarding the chicken coop

Number of UN member states that are full-fledged democracies or "fully free" according to Freedom House: 87

Number of UN member states: 193

Percentage of UN member states which are full-fledged democracies: 45%

UN Members

Afghanistan

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Boko Haram

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland

France

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Lao People's Democratic Republic

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia, (Federated States of)

Monaco

Mongolia

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Other terrorists

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Republic of Korea

Republic of Moldova

Republic of Montenegro

Republic of Serbia

Romania

Russian Federation

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and The Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa

South Sudan

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Swaziland

Sweden

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic

Tajikistan

Thailand

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United Republic of Tanzania

United States of America

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

The rules of the game: one (undemocratic or democratic) state - one vote

Intergovernmental groups and alliances are extremely important actors within the UN system. Much of the operations of the UN, including appointments and elections to UN bodies, closed-door negotiations, and information-sharing sessions, take place in the context of five regional groups. Other intergovernmental coalitions also play key roles in determining UN priorities and outcomes. The influence of these coalitions, however, has no connection to the degree to which they adhere to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. For example, the current chair of the "non-aligned movement" - which includes a majority of UN member states - is Iran.

Total: 193 UN member states

Regional Groups

Asian Group

54

African Group

54

Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)

33

Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

29 (United States is here)

Eastern European Group (CEIT)

23

Other Groups

G77 & China

132 (69% of UN members)

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

119 (61% of UN members)

Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

56 (largest bloc in NAM & G-77)

League of Arab States

21 (largest bloc in OIC)

African Union

54

European Union (EU)

28

JUSCANZ (sub-set of the WEOG)

14/15 (United States is here)

Regional groups

The United Nations is unofficially divided into five regional groupings. What began as an informal means of sharing the distribution of posts for General Assembly committees has taken on a much more expansive role. Depending on the UN context, regional groups control elections to UN-related positions, dividing up the pie on the basis of geographic representation, as well as coordinate substantive policy, and form common fronts for negotiations. Although the membership has somewhat shifted since the demise of the Soviet Union, the five groups are the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), the Eastern European Group (now referred to as CEIT - countries with economies in transition), Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), the Asian Group and the African Group. The breakdown of numbers of UN member states is: WEOG 29, CEIT, 23, GRULAC, 33, Asian 54 and African 54. The United States is not a member of any regional group, but attends meetings of WEOG and is a member for electoral purposes.

The Western European and Other Group (WEOG) includes Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom. Except for exclusion from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Israel is a member of WEOG in most UN fora, agencies, and bodies, although in some cases its membership is "temporary" until such time as the Asian regional group (Israel's geographic location) admits it. Although the United States is not officially in WEOG, for all practical purposes it is a full member.

The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is intended to work together to promote the interest of Muslims worldwide, or in its words, the focus of the OIC includes "Islamic solidarity" and "non-interference in the internal affairs of member states." The OIC is the largest single subset of both the G-77 and the NAM. It was established in 1969 and now includes 56 UN member states: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte D'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

The League of Arab States, focusing on cooperation and stronger relationships among its member states, is the largest bloc within the OIC and includes 21 UN member states: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

The European Union (EU) is an international organization that coordinates cooperation among member states on issues such as trade, development and security, and includes 28 UN member states: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom. (Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are candidate countries but no date has been set for them to become a member state. Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo are potential candidate countries.)

JUSCANZ – a sub-set of the WEOG regional group, is usually comprised of 14 or 15 UN member states: Japan, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Andorra, Korea, Liechtenstein, Mexico, San Marino, Turkey and sometimes Israel.

Official UN inter-governmental entities and organizations:

Intergovernmental organizations have sought to associate themselves formally with the UN in order to influence the UN political landscape. Intergovernmental entities or organizations which have been granted the ability to participate as officially recognized observers in the sessions and work of the General Assembly are: African and Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, African Union, Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization, Andean Community, Association of Caribbean States, Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, Caribbean Community, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Commonwealth of Independent States, Commonwealth Secretariat, Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, Community of Sahelo-Saharan States, Council of Europe, Central American Integration System, Customs Cooperation Council, East African Community, Economic Community of Central African States, Economic Community of West African States, Economic Cooperation Organization, Eurasian Economic Community, European Community, European Union, GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova), International Centre for Migration Policy Development, International Development Law Institute, International Hydrographic Organization, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, International Organization for Migration, International Organization of la Francophonie, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Latin American Economic System, Latin American Parliament, League of Arab States, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Organization for Eastern Caribbean States, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Organization of American States, Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, Pacific Islands Forum, Partners in Population and Development, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Southern African Development Community. Very few of these intergovernmental entities and organizations include the United States.